New science on the Open Science Grid

The Open Science Grid (OSG) includes work to enable new science, new scientists, and new modalities in support of computationally based research. There are frequently significant sociological and organizational changes required in transformation from the existing to the new. OSG leverages its deliverables to the large-scale physics experiment member communities to benefit new communities at all scales through activities in education, engagement, and the distributed facility. This paper gives both a brief general description and specific examples of new science enabled on the OSG. More information is available at the OSG web site: www.opensciencegrid.org

EU data protection reform: Opportunities and concerns

Last year, the European Commission proposed a comprehensive reform of the EU's data protection rules. The proposed regulation has been surrounded by fierce controversy and has been the subject of frenzied lobbying by global corporations, industry groups, research centres and privacy campaigners on both sides of the Atlantic. This Forum applies cool economic reasoning to this heated issue. What are the potential economic benefits of EU harmonisation? Will the proposed regulation negatively impact the competitiveness and innovation of European firms in the global marketplace? Or could it jeopardise attempts to protect privacy as a fundamental right in civil societies

Plausible Constraints on the Range of Bulk Terrestrial Exoplanet Compositions in the Solar Neighborhood

Rocky planet compositions regulate planetary evolution by affecting core sizes, mantle properties, and melting behaviors. Yet, quantitative treatments of this aspect of exoplanet studies remain generally underexplored. We attempt to constrain the range of potential bulk terrestrial exoplanet compositions in the solar neighborhood (<200 pc). We circumscribe probable rocky exoplanet compositions based on a population analysis of stellar chemical abundances from the Hypatia and GALAH catalogs. We apply a devolatilization model to simulate compositions of hypothetical, terrestrial-type exoplanets in the habitable zones around Sun-like stars, considering elements O, S, Na, Si, Mg, Fe, Ni, Ca, and Al. We further apply core-mantle differentiation by assuming constant oxygen fugacity, and model the consequent mantle mineralogy with a Gibbs energy minimization algorithm. We report statistics on several compositional parameters and propose a reference set of (21) representative planet compositions for use as end-member compositions in imminent modeling and experimental studies. We find a strong correlation between stellar Fe/Mg and metallic-core sizes, which can vary from 18 to 35 wt%. Furthermore, stellar Mg/Si gives a first-order indication of mantle mineralogy, with high-Mg/Si stars leading to weaker, ferropericlase-rich mantles, and low-Mg/Si stars leading to mechanically stronger mantles. The element Na, which modulates crustal buoyancy and mantle clinopyroxene fraction, is affected by devolatilization the most. While we find that planetary mantles mostly consist of Fe/Mg silicates, the core sizes and relative abundances of common minerals can nevertheless vary significantly among exoplanets. These differences likely lead to different evolutionary pathways among rocky exoplanets in the solar neighborhood

Molecular Layer Deposition of Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework‑8 Films [Dataset]

24 pages. -- Methods. -- Summary of some of the reported vapor-phase processes for the layer-by-layer deposition of MOFs6. -- Synchrotron GIXRD reciprocal space maps of direct ZIF-8 MLD show crystallinity even at a very low number of cycles. -- Vapor pressure determination of 2-methylimidazole (HmIM) via thermogravimetry: Knudsen effusion method. -- Direct ZIF-8 MLD linker exposure times. -- Direct ZIF-8 MLD films on Si are pinhole-free. -- AFM image of a MOF-CVD ZIF-8 “layer”, i.e., scattered crystallites. -- Photograph of a 200 mm wafer with 30 MLD ZIF-8 cycles and the corresponding 100-point ellipsometry thickness mapping. -- Film characterization of direct ZIF-8 MLD with a missing water pulse. -- Effect of no water pulses in direct ZIF-8 MLD. -- Direct ZIF-8 MLD with water completely or partially substituted by methanol. -- Humidified conditions HmIM post-deposition treatment of direct ZIF-8 MLD. -- HAXPES survey scans. -- HAXPES peak fitting. -- Study of aging effect due to exposure to atmospheric gasses. -- Direct ZIF-8 MLD on (100) oriented supercrystals. -- ZIF-67 crystals powder characterization. -- SEM images ZIF-67. -- Direct ZIF-8 MLD schematic representation of the protocol. -- Two-step ZIF-8 MLD schematic representation of the protocol. -- The optimized temperature gradient in the MOF-MLD reactor. -- MOF-MLD optimization of the temperature gradient. -- Ellipsometry of HmIM post-deposition treatment and activation in two-step ZIF-8 MLD. -- Ellipsometric porosimetry as a function of time. -- Supporting Information References.Vapor-phase film deposition of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) would facilitate the integration of these materials into electronic devices. We studied the vapor-phase layer-by-layer deposition of zeolitic imidazolate framework 8 (ZIF-8) by consecutive, self-saturating reactions of diethyl zinc, water, and 2-methylimidazole on a substrate. Two approaches were compared: (1) Direct ZIF-8 “molecular layer deposition” (MLD), which enables a nanometer-resolution thickness control and employs only self-saturating reactions, resulting in smooth films that are crystalline as-deposited, and (2) two-step ZIF-8 MLD, in which crystallization occurs during a postdeposition treatment with additional linker vapor. The latter approach resulted in a reduced deposition time and an improved MOF quality, i.e., increased crystallinity and probe molecule uptake, although the smoothness and thickness control were partially lost. Both approaches were developed in a modified atomic layer deposition reactor to ensure cleanroom compatibility.Peer reviewe

Software for the frontiers of quantum chemistry:An overview of developments in the Q-Chem 5 package

This article summarizes technical advances contained in the fifth major release of the Q-Chem quantum chemistry program package, covering developments since 2015. A comprehensive library of exchange–correlation functionals, along with a suite of correlated many-body methods, continues to be a hallmark of the Q-Chem software. The many-body methods include novel variants of both coupled-cluster and configuration-interaction approaches along with methods based on the algebraic diagrammatic construction and variational reduced density-matrix methods. Methods highlighted in Q-Chem 5 include a suite of tools for modeling core-level spectroscopy, methods for describing metastable resonances, methods for computing vibronic spectra, the nuclear–electronic orbital method, and several different energy decomposition analysis techniques. High-performance capabilities including multithreaded parallelism and support for calculations on graphics processing units are described. Q-Chem boasts a community of well over 100 active academic developers, and the continuing evolution of the software is supported by an “open teamware” model and an increasingly modular design

Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI

Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good

Search for stop and higgsino production using diphoton Higgs boson decays

Results are presented of a search for a "natural" supersymmetry scenario with gauge mediated symmetry breaking. It is assumed that only the supersymmetric partners of the top-quark (stop) and the Higgs boson (higgsino) are accessible. Events are examined in which there are two photons forming a Higgs boson candidate, and at least two b-quark jets. In 19.7 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collision data at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV, recorded in the CMS experiment, no evidence of a signal is found and lower limits at the 95% confidence level are set, excluding the stop mass below 360 to 410 GeV, depending on the higgsino mass